Take Me Back: Reading Festival (Part Four)

Alas, at last I have arrived at what was one of the best days of my life. Sunday was Fall Out Boy day. Not on until about half six we had the day to fill with music, so first up was We Are The In Crowd. I've lost count the amount of times i've seen them live and although they aren't necessarily ground breaking stuff what they do, they do well. Their Reading debut last year in the Festival Republic tent was packed out with a crowd so enthusiastic it surprised me and their performance was truly amazing. Clearly the organizers agreed as this year the five piece were moved up the ranks to play the main stage. Being Sunday morning everyone's hangovers were at their worst and the days of festival camping made the crowd a tough one to crack, but with perseverance and catchy - sometimes cheesy, "Kiss Me Again," for example - pop-punk, we were soon won over. The newly released single "Attention" was chosen as their opener and although I liked the studio version I loved it live.

Wanting to beat the traffic the next day - and Elly being the most un-morning person I'd ever met - we decided we were going to leave that night so we headed back to our tent, took it all down and loaded up the car. Filling up the next few hours with food and alcohol we headed back down to the main arena to secure a spot for Fall Out Boy during The Lumineers' set. The Editors were a couple songs short of the end of their set so we parked ourselves by a gap on the barrier with ice lollies to keep us cool. The Lumineers were pleasant to watch albeit it got a bit boring but just as I was falling asleep an onslaught of people came surging towards us. Unsure as to what was happening, but seeing a perfect opportunity to get near the front for Fall Out Boy, we stood up and made our way to the now large gap near the barrier to find that frontman Wesley Schultz was stood, guitar in hand, directly in front of us to play their next song.

Now we were stood a couple rows back from the barrier and the fear that it's all a joke that Fall Out Boy were playing started to set in. Literally counting down the minutes and trying not to freak out, the cheers when their backdrop was put up were near enough deafening.

Then the opening of "Thriller" started to play and choked back what was about to be an all out sob-fest. This time the cheers were deafening, I had no idea how many people were behind me at the time as i'm short and I was barricaded in by wild giants. For a good ten/eleven years this is what I had been waiting for. It seemed only yesterday I was wishing and joking for them to come back from their hiatus and play Reading and now there they actually were. The dizzying mixture of emotions running through myself were no doubt matched by every other person stood there, so the outlet for us was to go crazy. We yelled back every line, jumped, screamed and cried. Playing crowd favourites meant not even the die-hard fans (how non-diehards even exist I don't know) were able to contain their enthusiasm. The beautiful Foxes came on and joined them for "Just One Yesterday" and simultaneously destroyed the self esteem of every single person stood there. As for Fall Out Boy themselves they played like there was no tomorrow - and if they kept up there wouldn't be for me, I swear I was going to explode - and proved to everybody exactly why they broke the internet when they came back, wedging themselves deeper into our hearts.
Since February, sat in the Costa Coffee on my college campus, crying over a laptop listening to "My Songs Know..." I said I need to hear it at Reading with the crowd doing the 'oh-ohhs,' at the time still only hoping they'd be playing the festival. Later that night Pete announced they'd be there, I cried some more (heck, I hadn't really stopped) and my countdown began. Then the song started and the crowd did it's part, raising goosebumps and making every hair on my body stand on end.

Sadly, it all had to end eventually so we made our way back to Elly by the barrier in a state of shock and briefly met a woman who had come all the way from America to see Biffy Clyro play a headline set.

 Pre-Fall Out Boy faces 

Fall Out Boy 

Post-Fall Out Boy faces 

We were hot, gasping for a drink, bruised all over and with Fall Out Boy gone the fact I missed City And Colour started to sink in. Sad, sad, sad. The NME stage filled up quickly for Disclosure and we sat outside and watched the synth stars' set. For ten minutes it's all good fun, but after a while it does become samey and the same goes for Azealia Banks. 

Back to main stage for Biffy Clyro, their pyrotechnics and Scottish rock Reading Festival 2013 was once again coming to an end. Another week of fantastic music, dodgy drunken dancers and unforgettable escapades was all being seen off with fire and uh more fire. Not wanting to miss Enter Shikari Sound System we left behind the Scots and the mass of mainstagers and headed towards the dubstep mash-up which proved to be a quite genius combination of your average dance music and songs from bands like Bring Me The Horizon. Of all the dance/dubstep acts i've seen Enter Shikari's take is by far my favourite.

PART ONE (ARRIVAL)

PART TWO (FRIDAY)

PART THREE (SATURDAY)

Reading Festival 2013

Leaving Reading Festival last year was one of the hardest things i've ever had to do and from the moment I set foot on camp I knew I would return the year after. And now here we are in 2013. With my ticket purchased before any bands had been announced I wasn't expecting much of the line-up and nor did I care as the atmosphere of the weekend is enough to lure me back. But much to my surprise the bands that have been announced so far have obliterated all expectations I had. There are some surprises, some Reading veterans and plenty of artists I really don't like but will no doubt find myself drunkenly dancing to anyway. I would suggest songs for newcomers to these bands to listen to but it would always be "ALL THE SONGS" so without further ado I present you with the bands that have me wishing the year away so I can get to Reading faster. 

FALL OUT BOY

Oh man oh man oh man I feel sorry for anyone that is near me when they play their set. I will turn into a total beast and I will be shrieking the lyrics along with absolutely everything I have in me. I joked a while back about how great it would be if they came off hiatus and played Reading and then they did come off hiatus and they are playing Reading and just thinking about it is making me tear up.

BRAND NEW

When I saw them last year they surpassed all expectations and played just about every song I could have wanted them too. They destroyed things and Jesse stage dived so far into the crowd I was convinced he was going to kill himself. With a back catalog with plenty of rock, pop-punk, acoustic and just plain weird the band are sure to be one of my highlights.

CITY AND COLOUR

Dallas Green,  please oh please can we get married? City And Colour, the band of Alexisonfire front man, is set to break my heart in about a million different ways with his beautiful blend of acoustic music penned with lyrics so lovely I will be a puddle on the floor of the NME tent.

NEW FOUND GLORY

Pop-punk kings return to Reading main stage where they will bring their classic anthems to get the crowd going. They never disappoint live and their bounds of energy will awaken the festival-goers from their inevitably hungover stupor.

BRING ME THE HORIZON

Playing the main stage BMTH are sure to bring a hell of a crowd to accompany what is certain to be a hell of a set. Find me in the most pit. 

FRANK TURNER

More acoustic fabulousness from Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls. They never fail to put a grin on my face and i'm sure they won't fail in spreading the festival cheer.

BASTILLE

With new single Pompeii, Bastille have suddenly found themselves as the next best thing which is perfectly fine by me if it means the crowd give it their all for a set that will be unbelievably fun. They have a knack for writing catchy as hell songs that sound incredibly upbeat with lyrics that are so harshly relatable it's like the words have been picked straight from my brain.

GREEN DAY

Sitting outside my tent last year, hearing the first guitar strums of their "secret" set and then watching practically the entirety of Reading flock to the main arena and then an actual crowd forming in front of the main stage screens was a surreal sight. If it's anything to go by I imagine them actually being on the main stage will send everyone into a frenzy. Pure nostalgia will accompany with their set. 

BIFFY CLYRO

I would be lying if I said I wasn't surprised by their headlining but all the same i'm sure the Scottish rockers will put on a headline worthy set that should not be missed. 

TWIN ATLANTIC

After catching the last half of their set last year and seeing them play the Bristol 02 Academy I already know these guys will go down a treat with their radio famous single Free and adorable humbleness. 

EMINEM

Again, nostalgia will be my date for this headline act. Don't trust anyone if they say they're not excited for Eminem. 

THE BLACKOUT

I've seen them live so many times now and every time they've been entertaining and musically perfect with songs that involve a lot of crowd participation which always makes things better. 

Reading 2012 (Thursday/Friday)

Reading 2012 (Saturday)

Reading 2012 (Sunday/Monday)